Photo: Madeline Kauffman
Associate professor of peace and conflict studies Jonathan Rudy gave his first workshop in his series entitled “Learn How to Peacefully Transform Conflict with Jonathan Rudy” Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. in the High Library McCormick Classroom.
The series will have three workshops in total. Both the High Library and the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking (CGUP) sponsored the event. His first workshop entitled, “What is Conflict?,” was about conflict awareness.
“This included how a description of conflict, how it impacts us individually, collectively and briefly how to analyze it. I approach conflict from a transformative viewpoint,” Rudy explained.
The goal of the first workshop was for “people to have a basic understanding of what conflict is and some practical ways they can transform conflicts,” Rudy said. “These are interactive sessions that ‘scratch’ where the conflict ‘itch’ is for people attending.”
Rudy is the Peacemaker-in-Residence for Elizabethtown College’s CGUP, and he teaches peace and conflict courses. In addition, he is the Senior Advisor for Human Security for the Alliance for Peacebuilding and a senior fellow at the Social Enterprise Institute.
“Part of my role as Peacemaker in Residence at Etown College is to promote the ideas of conflict transformation on campus,” he said. “I will work with any department, faculty member and/or staff who wishes to learn more about conflict and how to overcome the negative effects of conflict. I often do one or two hour ‘intro to conflict resolution’ type trainings for classes.”
When asked about what inspired him to give these workshops, Rudy said, “I have been supportive of the High Library’s mission to provide relevant and timely programming. Few topics seem more useful than learning some skills to manage and thrive in the conflictual environment we face today.”
Rudy has experience in conflictual environments. Over the period of 30 years, he has worked in over 35 countries in Asia and Africa promoting peacebuilding and conflict transformation. He has been invited to speak or facilitate workshops in several countries around the world.
Rudy has two more peace and conflict workshops planned in his event series.
“The overall goal [of the series] is to give people confidence in dealing with the conflicts that inevitably come into their lives,” Rudy said. In a politically charged environment with many crucial elections on the horizon, Rudy’s workshops could not be more important.
